Six Greatest Test Innings in Test Cricket History
Ben Stokes produced one of the best innings in test history with a remarkable 135 not to see England to a thrilling win of a wicket over Australia in the third event at Headingley on Sunday. Here is the analysis of the Six Greatest Innings played Ever.
1) 270: Don Bradman Greatest Test Inning, Australia v England, Melbourne 1936-37.
Don Bradman’s Innings against England is one of the Top-Ranked innings in history. The best test hitter cricket has ever known, with an average of 99.94, Bradman came to Melbourne for game three in this series after losing his first two tests as Australia captain and on the verge of losing the ashes.
He was out for 13 in the first inning before the rain became an open field that, in Bradman’s words, became the “worst I’ve ever seen” in my life. He declared Australia’s first inning in 200-9, with England saying at 76-9 in turn.
Bradman then reversed Australia’s batting order to protect his best hitters from the worst conditions and the “Don” at No. 7, made 270 in a total of 564. Australia won 365 runs and won the series 3-2, the only time a team has fallen 2-0 to win a series of five runs.
2) 154*: Graham Gooch Best Test Innings, England v West Indies, Headingley 1991
England had not won a home test against the then-mighty West Indies for 22 years when they arrived in Leeds for the first match of the 1991 series. For much of that time, the first Gooch game, one of the few batsmen from England who faced a succession of formidable rhythm attacks.
Now England’s skipper Graham Gooch batted for an entire second inning for 154 runs against fast bowlers of the West Indies Curtly Ambrose, Patrick Patterson, Malcolm Marshall, and Walsh. No other batsmen in England won more than 27 in a total of 252 laying the groundwork for a 115-run victory.
3) 153*: Brian Lara Best Test Innings, West Indies v Australia, Bridgetown 1999
The West Indies were no longer the dominant force when left-hander Lara played the entrances to this notorious captain. South Africa’s previous tour, the country’s first, had seen the West Indies play 5-0 in a series of Test Matches and Australia defeated them in the opening match of this campaign.
Set a target of 308 to win in Bridgetown, Barbados, the West Indies were almost out of the game at 91-4 against one of the high attacks of all time: pacemakers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, as well as star Shane, the spinner of Legs. Warne was playing for Australia. But Lara, with his captaincy at stake, took charge of a bold century full of superb blows. Late, he saw the West Indies win from a wicket.
4) 281: VVS Laxman Outstanding Innings, India v Australia, Kolkata, 2001
India was overtaken by ten wickets in the series opener by a great Australian team of all time, watching another defeat when Captain Steve Waugh made them follow in Eden Gardens. In the second entry, they were 232-4 when Laxman and Rahul Dravid (who added 180) joined in a monumental society of 376.
In a pitch that helps the spinners, Laxman repeatedly drove Warne’s leg blows that pierced him by the side in four 281s that claimed a 171-stroke victory. He also changed cricket by making Australia, and everyone else, clearly wary of enforcing the follow-up.
5) 153*: Kusal Perera Best Innings, Sri Lanka v South Africa, Durban, 2019
Sri Lanka had 78 runs, seeking only his second victory in 14 Test Matches in South Africa when his ninth wicket fell on the fourth day of the first Protea Test Match. For Sri Lanka, we have seen two legends Mahela Jewardane and Kumar Sangakara scoring thousands of runs for their nation but Kusal Perera manages to take a position in the greatest Test Innings.
But left-hander Perera, at number five, contained South Africa’s potent attack to hit 153 who were not eliminated, including 12 four and five sixes. Perera’s best run, who faced 69 balls out of 96-ball during his association with Vishwa Fernando, scored 67 of his team’s runs in an undefeated position in the last wicket.
It was the highest last-wicket position in a successful chase in the fourth inning in first-class cricket. “It was an effort of supermen,” said South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis.
6) 135*: Ben Stokes Greatest Innings, England v Australia, Leeds, Third Test Ashes 2019
England pitched for just 67 in their first innings, and was on the brink of defeat 286-9 in their second dig, needing 73 more runs to reach a 359 victory target. One of the Most Amazing and Greatest Test Innings by an Englishman named Ben Stokes for his marvelous batting performance.
Ben Stokes was not 61 out when the No 11 Jack Leach joined in the fold. But England’s vice-captain, whose first two runs had taken 50 balls, played the situation perfectly when World Cup-winning hero Ben Stokes entered a one-day mode in a Test Match with a brilliant clean-blowing display that smashed 11 fours and eight mighty sixes. Having been about to fall 2-0 into the ashes, England won by a wicket to square the series at 1-1 with a surprising victory.
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